Review : Ulavacharu Biryani Movie Review

Review : Ulavacharu Biryani — Food, Love and Loneliness

Multi-faceted Prakash Raj has taken up the mantle of direction a while ago. While his debut directorial Naanu Nanna Kanasu (Kannada film) turned out to be stupendous hit, his second venture Dhoni (Telugu-Tami) was an average grosser. For the third time, he came up with the remake of Malayalam hit Salt N’ Pepper, Ulavacharu Biryani in Telugu. Will Prakash be a third-time lucky? Let’s see.

Plot: To put it simply, Ulavacharu Biryani is a take on food, love and loneliness. The film involves two couples- one aged, the other is young. Kalidas (Prakash Raj), who is bachelor and aged, works as an archaeologist. On flip side, Gowri (Sneha), who is a prominent dubbing-artiste, is spinster. The duo encounter with each other in a surprising manner. In between, comes the story of two happy-go-lucky youth Naveen (Tejus) and Meghana (Samyukta Hornad). How do the two couples unite together overcoming the hurdles form the crux of the story.
Performances:

Prakash Raj: Actor-director Prakash Raj, who juggled with both action, direction for the film, deserve all accolades, laurels as his acting got unaffected although he took over the mantle of direction. As usual, Prakash Raj’s performance is the highlight and takes the movie forward.He once again proved that he is the best choice for portraying exceptional roles like Kalidasu which has various human emotions to portray.

Sneha: Sneha, who got married and on comeback mode, stick to non-glamourous and performance-oriented role. She suits the job aptly. Scenes showcasing Sneha crying often appear natural and close to reality.

Tejus: It’s a cakewalk for a youth guy Tejus to act like a flirt. Tejus does the same. As a debut actor, he is fine. Yet on few fronts, he has to groom himself.

Samyukta Hornad: Samyukta adds glam quotient and spices up Ulavcharu Biryani with her pretty beautiful looks. Samyukta looked promising and it seems, there is a lot in store for her.

Analysis: Telling a story that revolves around food, romance and relationship is not so easy. Yet actor-director Prakash Raj has striken a fine balance between all the three. The romantic track between Kalidas, Gowri and Naveen, Meghana is well-conceived and stands apart. Especially, the loneliness faced by
Kalidas, Gowri in the film have been portrayed well. Romantic scenes are shot aesthetically. The film is close to reality that it reminisce you about one’s old memories if any.

The film does has its share of drawbacks. The sequences involving Adivasis may not go well with ‘A’ class audience. Mixing up Adivasis with a sub-topic of corporate companies’ greed and then a family story within an Adivasi group all appear irrelevant to the plot and applies brakes to the flow of the film. One can’t understand why this film is called Ulavcharu Biryani albeit the film talks about food. On whole, the film is a breathe of fresh air. If you’re a foodie and likes romance, then you’ll instantly connect with the film.
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